Angel's Song
by KsandraMallan
Summary: There is one member of the Neb's crew who nobody ever saw. She was one of the first to be there. This is her story. Note: AU, eventual NeoOC.
1. Chapter 1

**This plot bunny would not leave me alone. I do not know if this is a good character or not, so all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! **

**Prologue**

I was here from the beginning. I was one of the first to see the truth and to choose to join the struggle.

How old am I? I honestly do not know. I thought I knew—but then I'm not sure anymore. My body has stopped aging, and so while I see the signs of age in those around me—slowed reflexes, dimming eyes—I feel nothing. But I am not an immortal. I am still human, and I can die.

I have been fighting for at least ten years. It is a long time to be locked in the cycle of death and war, I know. But I do what I do to save others from having to live the life I have chosen.

Morpheus came to me a long, long time ago. Yes, the legendary Morpheus himself—although not so much of a legend back then. It amuses both of us to compare how he is lionized now and how little he was known when we set out.

He presented me with a choice. The choice that all my comrades were given—and countless others who chose not to join the fight. The fact that I am telling this story should indicate what I chose.

Looking back, I do not regret my decision. It was the right thing to do. Of course, there are moments when I wonder if things would have been different if I had chosen otherwise—but I know that even if allowed to choose again, I would have done the same thing. I was born for this.

When Morpheus became a captain, I was the first person he chose for his crew. We gathered more people—lost many crew members as well, thanks to the machines—but we kept working. He shared his vision with me, the vision of finding the One.

As time went on, I began to believe in it too. I believed that someday, we would find the One.

So we searched. We found five people, one after the other—but none of them were the right person. They were killed, one by one—encounters with Agents, a stray bullet, the like. We would grieve, but we would keep on searching.

Crew members came and went, but Morpheus and I were the only two who survived long enough to virtually become parts of the _Nebuchanezzer._ I stayed in the shadows, partly because I didn't want renown and partly because of Morpheus' request. While he was being lionized by Zion—I knew he hated the publicity, but had no choice—I could work on either finding new people to approach and unplug, or searching desperately for the One.

I was there when the others—the more well-known ones, famous or infamous—were unplugged. I saw them through their beginning days on duty. Trinity, Apoc, Switch, Mouse… and Cypher.

Cypher. He was not my choice. Morpheus ordered me to approach him, and so I did. But I did not like what I sensed from him. It was oily, a sickening feeling… but I obeyed my captain.

We searched and searched, for weeks and months and years. Everyone began to at least have some faith in Morpheus… except one. He behaved like he did, but we knew he really didn't.

Finally, we found one. Everyone knows who we found. Everyone knows _what_ we found, what happened.

Everyone knows his story, Morpheus' story, Trinity's story. But my story is the one piece of the puzzle that nobody has yet found and fit in place.

My name is Angel. Dark Angel. And this is my story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Beginnings

I was the first one to find him. I was on a routine sweep when he came to my attention—two minutes later, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. He held my attention without knowing it, with a shy, unconscious grace. The hope rose in me, and I couldn't push it down.

When I alerted Morpheus that I had a possible for the One, he investigated, then assigned Trin and I to watch him. Sometimes we sat shifts together, just watching him in silence.

Trinity and I were extremely close friends. I was there when she was unplugged—I helped train her and we did countless missions side by side. We saved each other's butts so many times I think we both lost count.

I loved watching him, late at night alone in the Core. Watched him hack into dozens of computer systems and nearly get caught so many times. I never told Trin, but I helped keep him out of trouble indirectly by nudging his attention to markers to make him realize what was going on, that he would be caught if he stayed.

Sometimes, I'd watch him sit in his cubicle and sigh as he rumpled up his already-messy hair. Or I'd smile as I watched him help his landlady take out the trash. I think my favorite times, though, were when I could watch him working at his computer far into the early hours of the morning, then fall asleep at the computer.

Trinity and I were inside one night when she ran into some trouble. I found out only when Morpheus contacted me and ordered me to come back in by the nearest exit. I wanted to go and help Trin, but orders were orders; and I knew Trin could handle herself. She came out a little battered, but otherwise unharmed—not bad for a brush with three Agents and nearly getting run over.

We knew he had been looking for us—Morpheus, Trinity, and I, that is. But we didn't let him find us. Revealing ourselves could have meant death for everyone aboard the Neb. But right after Trinity's Agent encounter, we knew we would have to move fast.

For the initial contact mission, Morpheus assigned Trin to go to him. Morpheus and I stayed in the Core, watching over them—but then I saw a coding that nearly made my heart stop. "Morpheus. We've got trouble."

It only took one glance for him to confirm what I'd seen. "Agents."

"_Now_ we have to speed up." I quickly informed Trinity, before we went into action.

Morpheus mailed him a cell phone, then made contact with him via it. I watched tensely, praying he would trust Morpheus—but he didn't trust us. He chose capture over the jump. Trin was stationed outside the building when the Agents hustled him away—I could imagine her reaction, something along the lines of "Shit."—then she left, coming back in to carry out the next step.

Trin, Apoc, Switch, Cypher, and Morpheus went in. Privately, Morpheus told me that I was staying behind because I was both the steadiest hand on the winch and the best pilot, and that would be crucial for _this_ Unplugging. While I waited in the cockpit, I kept one eye on a monitor—suddenly, coordinates flashed across the screen and I pointed the Neb in the direction of the pipe leading from those coordinates, before leaving the cockpit to Dozer and sprinting for the belly hold.

As I readied the winch, Morpheus and Trinity came to join me with a blanket. Trin smiled at me—I grinned back, then checked an external camera just as a flying body hurtled out of the pipe and landed in the murky water. Moving quickly, I opened the hatch and lowered the grasper arm—he was flailing around madly in the filthy water.

"Come on, come on…" I muttered as the winch lowered, then felt a tiny jerk as the 'hand' closed around him. Keeping the rise steady, I hauled him up—Morpheus handed the blanket to me as I knelt beside the winch. He hung limply in the grasper, exhausted. I slid the blanket under him, then hit a switch to open the hand. He fell—but I caught him in the heavy, soft wool, carefully wrapping him up in it.

_I can never get over how strange we look right after being unplugged. Pale, wrinkled skin; weak, atrophied muscles and a bald head. I've unplugged so many people, and it always strikes me. _How_ could we have lived for so long like that? How _do_ we live like that?_

I tugged the blanket over his neck and head, before lifting him into my arms. His head was resting against my left shoulder, eyes half-closed with exhaustion. I carried him to the sickbay very gently, like a mother with a sick child.

Over the next few months, I visited him frequently, helping to rebuild his muscles and cover up most of the holes. Trinity and I would sometimes pull shifts to work on him together, alone with his still form in the shadows of the sickbay. He slept most of the time—recuperating from our massive reconstruction job.

One night, I was working on his pectoral muscles when I abruptly felt a pair of eyes on me. I glanced around and saw nobody—then looked down into a set of dark eyes. "Hi there." I whispered, smiling down at him involuntarily. "Feeling better?"

His eyes swept over my face with evident confusion. "Who're… you?"

"Don't worry about it now. You need all the energy you can get." I touched his forehead, savoring the feeling of his smooth skin under my fingers. "Do I call you Neo, or Thomas?"

"Neo." He whispered, moving his head fretfully. "Bright…"

"Hush." I covered his eyes with one hand, feeling his lashes tickle my palm. "Rest now."

I kept my hand over his eyes as I worked on—when I moved it away, I found he had fallen asleep. Quietly, I finished up my work and left the sickbay.

Three long months later, he was ready.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody. Here's Chapter 3—nobody is reviewing, but oh well. **

I was working in the Core when Morpheus brought Neo in. They had their backs to me, so Neo didn't notice my presence until Morpheus pointed me out.

"The lady behind you is Angel. I believe you know her as Dark Angel." Neo whirled and his eyes met mine. I saw a spark of recognition—in answer, I nodded slightly.

By unspoken agreement, Trin and I moved to help Neo and Morpheus respectively. I heard a soft murmur of sound from behind me—steeling myself, I held up the cerebral jack and shot an inquiring look at Morpheus. His dark eyes found mine and he nodded calmly. Suppressing a cringe at the sickening squelch, I inserted the jack into his plug—behind me, I heard a similar noise and knew Trin had plugged Neo in.

We stepped back, moving to the monitors—both of us went to Neo's monitor, then smiled sheepishly as we realized what we were doing. "You worried too?" Trin murmured softly.

"Aye." I smiled over at her—we shared the same build, but I stood about an inch taller in bare feet. "I'm scared for him. He may have been too old to Unplug."

"We had no choice." She looked up at me with a smile, but it was a worried one as well.

Lowering my voice, I stepped closer to her. "Trin, if you're interested… I'll not interfere. And my promise for you… I intend to extend it to him. For his sake and yours."

Her pale, long-fingered hand came up and rested on mine. "Thank you. I promise I won't get too possessive."  
"Better not." I gave her a wicked grin. "Or I'll just have to take him myself."

She punched my shoulder lightly; then we turned back to the screen.

Side-by-side, we watched as Morpheus revealed to Neo what we all knew as the truth. His anguished cry of denial tore at my heart, but I rushed to unplug Morpheus as Neo's body spasmed wildly.

My fingers flew over the plug—Morpheus virtually exploded out fo the seat, rushing over with the others as Neo fought Trin and Dozer madly.

"Neo, breathe! Just breathe!" Morpheus shouted, his voice tinged with fear. The younger man was staggering backward, away from us, his eyes dilated and frantic.

"Get away from me!" He stared from face to face with a wild gaze—when his attention was off me, I slipped behind him, ready to grab him if he fled. His body was trembling, marking how upset he was. I wanted to hug him, to stroke his hair and calm him by saying it was all unreal—but I couldn't lie to him.

He pitched forward, thin frame retching violently but bringing up nothing from his empty stomach—I lunged forward, catching him as he hit the deck. He went limp in my arms, unconscious. "Oh, Neo." I whispered sadly, cradling his still form. "I'm sorry. But we had no choice."

Standing up, I shifted his weight slightly, then carried him back to his room with the utmost care. Trin came over after I'd closed his door firmly, her blue eyes troubled. "How about a workout?"

"Sounds good." I smiled at her, before we headed back to the Core. Tank raised his eyebrow when he saw us, but I refused to give him any further information. "Load the ninja program, Tank. We're gonna do some exercise."

He shrugged and did as I said—ten minutes later, Trin and I were fighting off ninjas back-to-back. We worked till we were exhausted, then ate and headed back to our rooms. But Neo's anguished expression—the one that screamed, "Please, someone tell me this isn't true!"—was burned into my mind and floated before my eyes, even as I lay on my bunk trying to sleep.


End file.
